Religare May Buy 60% In Realty Fund Indiareit - Religare Enterprises, the financial services group, was in advance talks with the Ajay Piramal group to buy a 60% stake in its private equity and fund management venture Indiareit Fund Advisors for Rs 175 crore. Indiareit was valued at around Rs 290 crore. Indiareit, which manages real estate funds worth around $1 billion was in talks with many PE firms, including Blackstone and IL&FS Investment Managers. (Business Standard)
HCL, Ingram In Talks To Buy Sonata - Shiv Nadar-promoted HCL Group and multinational distributor of IT products, Ingram Micro, are in talks to buy a controlling stake in Bangalore-based software firm, Sonata Software. The mid-sized software provider focused on offshore software services and domestic software products distribution and implementation. The domestic software business of Sonata, which contributes a bulk of its revenues, is what potential buyers are finding attractive. (Economic Times)
Deutsche Bank To Sell Credit Card Biz - Deutsche Bank is in talks with at least four other banks and financial services companies, including Yes Bank and IndusInd Bank, to sell its credit cards portfolio in India. Deutsche Bank has 350,000 active card users, most of which are high net worth individuals (HNIs). Deutsche Bank initiated the sale process about three weeks ago and is expecting a valuation of Rs 200 crore for its business. (ET)
Videocon, Liberty Mutual In Insurance JV - Mumbai-based Videocon Industries is set to enter the financial services sector by forming a non-life insurance joint venture with Boston-based Liberty Mutual Group. Videocon will hold 74% stake in the venture while the rest will be held by Liberty, a global property and casualty insurer which had revenues over $31 billion in 2009. Liberty will also have the option to raise its stake in the JV in line with the regulatory guidelines on foreign direct investment. (Financial Express)
Lupin Eyes Japanese Buys - Optimistic about the “big generic opportunity†in Japan, drug-maker Lupin is looking to make one more acquisition in the market. Lupin already has a wholly-owned subsidiary, Kyowa Pharmaceuticals in Japan. The target could be in the area of injectibles. (HinduBusinessLine)
Ecron Acunova May Partner Orbimed For US Buy - Ecron Acunova, the clinical trials company co-promoted by the Manipal group, plans to go in for an acquisition in the US in late 2011 or mid-2012 to support its entry into third-party pharmacovigilance or drug safety studies.The Bangalore-based CRO will need a third round of equity funding to finance part of any acquisition. Ecron is looking at buying a pharmacovigilance service company in the US for $10-20 million and may partner healthcare fund OrbiMed, which infused around Rs 50 crore last December, to fund half od the acquisition cost. (HBL)
GE Cap May By Into SBI's Trading Finance Biz - State Bank of India and GE Capital are believed to have initiated talks to rope in the latter as a strategic partner in the bank's subsidiary SBI Global Factors. SBI Global Factors is in the trade finance business (provides financing to exporters and importers). It offers factoring (domestic and international) and forfaiting services. SBI already has a credit card joint venture with GE Capital. (HBL)
Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision's FCCB Holders Approach SEBI - Two global hedge funds owned by JPMorgan, US-based QVT and Highbridge Capital, have approached capital markets regulator Sebi and the ministry of corporate affairs saying film production company Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision was preventing them from converting their foreign currency convertible bonds, or FCCBs. The two funds had invested $19 million in FCCBs of Shree Ashtavinayak in 2007. (ET)
Life Technologies Buys Stake In India Distributor - US-based Life Technologies, the maker of instruments and reagents used in biotech research and diagnosis, is buying a part of its local distributor LabIndia for an undisclosed amount. The deal will allow Life Technologies to offer complete and complementary products directly to its customers in India. Around 100 employees of LabIndia will join Life Technologies, doubling its headcount in India with company’s India revenue to touch $50 million by December 2012. (ET)
